Joe Castaldi Elected 2010 Baseball Captain

May 05, 2009

May 5, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -John Stuper, the
Mazzuto Family Head Coach for Baseball, has announced that the
captain of the 2010 Yale baseball team will be pitcher Joe Castaldi. The
announcement comes following a team vote at the annual year-end
dinner on Friday evening.

Castaldi, a junior from Sunrise, Fla., went 0-5 last season with
a 7.75 earned run average as a member of the weekend rotation.
Despite his deceptive statistics, the right-hander was one of the
Bulldogs' most effective hurlers, allowing three earned runs or
fewer in eight of his twelve appearances and exiting with a lead on
three occasions.

"Joe was one of our most consistent pitchers this year with not
a whole lot to show for it," said Stuper of his new captain. "He
battled the whole year and never complained. I think his character
and competitiveness are the reasons he was voted captain by his
teammates amongst a good group of candidates. He is an excellent
choice".

"I am honored that my teammates have elected me as team
captain," said Castaldi. [Outgoing captain] Stefan Schropp
will be a tough act to follow, but I welcome the challenge. I look
forward to a great season."

Stuper also took the opportunity to present year-end awards in
recognition of several outstanding individual performances in the
2009 season. The G.H. Walker, Jr. Award, given to the Bulldogs'
most valuable player, went to junior Trygg
Larsson-Danforth. The first baseman started 36 games for Yale
and led the Elis in batting average (.344), runs batted in (37),
home runs (7), runs scored (27), slugging percentage (.573) and
on-base percentage (.424). Coach Stuper highlighted several
towering home runs by the 6'6 lefty, including a 460' blast at
Towson on March 17.

Senior Brandon Josselyn
took home the Raymond W. (Ducky) Pond Pitching Award, given
annually to the pitcher "who has made the greatest contribution to
the baseball team during his career at Yale and who best
exemplifies the qualities and excellence of `Ducky' Pond".
Josselyn, an Ivy League Pitcher of the Year candidate, had a
breakout season in 2009, going 5-3 with a 4.29 earned run average,
including a 3-1 mark against Ivy League competition. The
right-hander struck out 51 batters on the season and held opponents
to a .253 batting average.

Josselyn and fellow hurler Chris Walsh were also
the recipients of the Martin I.J. Griffin Award, which was
instituted last year by Joe Conway '80 and Fred Berg '66 in honor
of their mentor, Martin I.J. Griffin. Mr. Berg was on-hand to
present the award, which is given to the graduating senior who is
the team's most outstanding scholar-athlete.

Stefan
Schropp was one of the most decorated players of the evening,
as he received two awards: The Burnat-Grass Teammate Award, given
to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of toughness,
hard work, character and integrity, while putting the team above
himself", and the Coaches' Award. Schropp batted .324 with three
home runs and 28 runs batted in. The senior captain of the Bulldogs
ended his career in style at Brown on April 26, hitting a home run
in his final collegiate at-bat and ending his career on a 10-game
hitting streak.

The David M. Darst Hustle Cup, presented to the freshman "who
made the greatest contribution to the baseball team through desire,
enthusiasm and hustle", went to Zach Tobolowsky
and Eric
Shultz. Tobolowsky batted .320 in 29 games, the highest batting
average for a Yale freshman since 2004. He hit five home runs and
racked up 18 RBI while playing right field, second base and third
base for the Bulldogs. Shultz stepped in immediately as the Yale
closer and went a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities. The 6'4
submariner went 2-3 with a 2.84 earned run average in addition to
his three saves. Opponents hit just .172 against Shultz in 25.1
innings of work.

Sophomore Andy
Megee received the Paul Sortal Award, which goes to the player
who "maximizes his ability to the fullest." Megee batted .329 with
16 runs batted in while playing third base for the Bulldogs. He
also moved into the starting rotation during the second half of the
season, posting a 1-2 record with a 6.86 earned run average in 19.2
innings.

Yale went 13-24 in 2009 with a 7-13 Ivy League mark. The
youngest team in the Ivy League in 2009, the 2010 Bulldogs are
slated to return 10 position players that made 15 or more starts
and nine pitchers that logged at least 11 innings.